


heart, like a broken cassette

by santiagone



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - To All the Boys I've Loved Before Fusion, F/M, do with that what you will!!, tldr this is a tatbilb au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-10-20 08:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17618681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/santiagone/pseuds/santiagone
Summary: Annabeth gave him a wry little smile. “It's just a suggestion, Percy. I don't want to guilt you into anything, I swear. But this way, we both win.” She pulled a pen from her jacket pocket and neatly printed a phone number on his arm. “Think about it,” she said.She turned and headed the opposite way, back to her house. Percy, watching her go, absently noted that his ice cream had melted all down his hand and formed a chocolate puddle on the ground without him even noticing.Some girls, he figured, had that sort of effect.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title is from hot2touch by felix jaehn  
> i'm not that invested in tatbilb tbh but this story just begged to be written. what can i say, all the characters just seemed to fit perfectly into their roles

Percy wrote his first love letter when he was twelve. Five years later, he still remembered it like he'd written it just yesterday, and even though he was holding the dog-eared paper in his hand, he didn't need to read the words to know exactly what it said.

The letter was addressed to Annabeth Chase. The subject was, like all the letters were, about how much he liked her.

He still remembered being twelve year old Percy Jackson, awkward but excessively happy, always out with his friends. Back then, Annabeth had been taller than him and she'd never let him forget it. They'd used to spend almost every day together; at the park, at the pools, hanging out in Percy's backyard. They'd had a big group of friends, too—the Graces, the di Angelo's, Piper and Leo, Grover, and Luke Castellan.

Percy loved them all, but there was a part of him that had liked Annabeth best. She freckled under the sun, and she had a retort for all of his jokes. Once, he took her skateboarding, and she'd been better at it than him, but she'd pretended she hated it. Annabeth had the sort of face that made Percy want to tell her everything.

At twelve years old, that was all that mattered.

Then came Piper McLean's birthday party. A changing of events—and the main subject of Percy's letter. Piper had fished a flashlight from her bedside drawer and had them all play Spin the Bottle.

Percy remembered every detail of that moment. Luke had sat on his left. He'd been telling Percy jokes all evening, buy Percy had only heard half of them on account of how shiny Annabeth's hair was.

Annabeth sat on his right. When the bottle landed on her, he leaned in for a kiss that lasted all of two seconds, one that he would remember for the rest of time. His first kiss. Annabeth Chase, who smelled of Piper's bubblegum spray, and smiled brightly at him when he pulled away, hands clammy. He remembered she'd had very soft lips.

Beside him, Luke had stopped smiling. He hadn't told anymore jokes that night.

Later—now—Percy would come to realise that that was the night everything fell apart.

.  
.  
.

“Percy! Mom said you'd drop me off at practice,” Estelle informed from the door. She already had her mint green helmet jammed over her hair, and she wasted no time in charging in and jumping on Percy's bed.

“Watch it!” said Percy, but he was grinning.

Estelle picked up one of the letters. “What's this?”

“Nothing,” said Percy, feeling an irrational sense of panic. He took the letters from Estelle's hands.

“Hmm,” Estelle said, which was the noise she made when she was annoyed at being kept out of the loop. Percy knew because their mom made that noise, too. “Why are you hiding them?”

“I'm not hiding them,” Percy said. It wasn't really a lie. Technically. He put them in his drawer to make a point. “Nothing to hide. Happy now?”

“Little bit,” said Estelle cheerfully. She hopped off the bed and scooped up her rollerskates in her arms. “Let's get ice cream on the way.”

Percy laughed. “Sure, Stella. Let's go.”

He lead the way out, and if Estelle spared several curious glances back at his bedside drawer, Percy didn't notice it.

.  
.  
.

When Percy got back from work several hours later, still in his lifeguard gear, Estelle was already in the living room playing cards with Calypso.

Estelle waved when Percy came in, and Calypso looked up and smiled. Percy's heart unwittingly did a little jump.

Percy's latest love letter was about Calypso. He's written it two weeks ago to try and bury the hatchet, with no such luck. Calypso was pretty, unfailingly sweet, the perfect girl next door. She babysat when Percy couldn't, and Estelle loved her beyond compare, which meant a little part of Percy did too.

But Calypso was dating Leo Valdez, and if there were anyone Percy liked more than her, it was him. He hated even picturing Leo's face if he ever found out Percy liked his girlfriend.

Percy wrote love letters to get over girls. This time, he was just having a little trouble with it.

“Hey, Percy,” said Calypso. “Your mom left dinner in the fridge for you.”

“Thanks, Cal.” Percy grabbed the plate and took a bite of the sandwich, wandering over to the girls. “What are you playing?”

“Old Maid,” said Stella. “I'm winning.”

“By a mile,” Calypso agreed warmly. “Come play with us, Perce.”

Estelle seemed to brighten at that thought. “Yes! Anyway, Calypso asked you,” she added slyly. “You have to play now.”

Stella had this crazy idea that her brother and her babysitter had to end up together. In her head, Leo Valdez wasn't a problem. In her head, everything was perfect, and Percy was just stupid. Sometimes he wished he could see the world like a little kid did.

“One game,” said Percy. Estelle smiled smugly and Percy shot her a warning look when Calypso wasn't watching. They'd argued about this before. He wouldn't do it again.

.  
.  
.

Piper was already waiting for him in his usual car park the next morning, kicking at the curb in her embroidered sneakers, hoisting her yellow backpack up higher. Calypso said goodbye to Percy and then got out of the car to find her own friends, and Piper, watching her go, got this weird frown on her face.

“What's wrong?” Percy asked.

“Nothing. I'm just worried about you.”

“Me?”

Piper sighed. “You, Calypso and Leo. Love triangles are stupid. Someone always gets hurt—usually all three.”

“I told you,” said Percy, “I'm dealing with it. Neither of them will know. I'd never hurt Leo like that.”

“Of course you wouldn't.” At least, Piper seemed very confident about that. She fell into step with Percy as they traipsed towards the school entrance and up the stairs. “I'm just saying, you know how to pick them.”

Percy raised his eyebrows. “Pick who?”

Piper laughed, a little bit. “Girls who are unavailable.” A boy in the hallway winked at her, but Piper walked past without even a glimmer of acknowledgement. This, Percy was used to.

“Whatever, Piper.”

“I'm just worried for you,” said Piper. “You're blowing through life getting attached to all these girls who can't give back. I don't want to see you get hurt.”

Percy felt himself soften a little. As the only girl of their dwindled down group, Piper didn't talk about her honest feelings a lot. But when she did, you knew they were real.

“I promise,” he said. “I won't let this Calypso thing affect me. Or her, or Leo. I wrote a letter. You know that means I'm trying.”

The corner of Piper's mouth ticked up. Percy decided not to tell her that he still had little heart spasms whenever he saw Calypso's glossy hair.

“You're such a dork.”

“Hey,” Percy protested.

“Seriously, Percy. Writing letters. You're crazy romantic; my mom would have a field day writing about you in her magazine.”

“Don't you dare tell her,” said Percy, inwardly shuddering at the picture of an article about himself, featured front cover on _Amorous Aphrodite, a Lover's Guide To Love!_

“Cross my heart,” said Piper, but she was still grinning. “Remember when you had that crazy crush on Annabeth Chase? You spent all day dragging me around the garden picking those yellow flowers for her.”

“She told me later they were weeds,” he admitted, and Piper laughed. Her expression turned somewhere between fond, and a little wistful in the corners.

“Of course she did,” she said, and Percy wondered when Piper had spoken to Annabeth last. He didn't think he'd had a proper conversation with her since they were thirteen. Or with any of the others, really. The summer after Piper's party, they'd all drifted apart. Bianca left to attend some fancy private school. Nico grew quieter without her presence, and eventually followed his boyfriend into the theatre kids. Thalia drifted in no man's clique; quit school, owned the coolest car in town and kept up with three different jobs. Percy still saw her sometimes, but she'd always liked Luke and Annabeth more, so contact was little.

Jason, Luke, and Annabeth fell in with the jocks. They were all busy, smart, athletic, on the path to Ivy Leagues or somewhere equally prestigious. Percy didn't entirely blame them. Sometimes, on bad days, he did. But mostly, they had drifted apart, and it wasn't really anyone's fault. He didn't blame them. But sometimes, he missed them.

They used to be so close, all of them. Now, Percy didn't even have their numbers on his phone. They were what was left over; Percy, Leo, Piper and Grover; three troublemakers and poor Grover enabling them in the back of the class.

They were all so different now. Percy bet if he told a random classmate he'd used to be good friends with Jason Grace, they would have laughed him out of school. Sometimes Percy couldn't even believe it himself.

Funny, how people changed and drifted away. Only, Percy didn't think he'd ever moved. Everybody else had taken new paths, but he was still walking the same old one, in sneakers that were yet to wear out.

“Hey,” said Percy. “Let's go to Chiron's for dinner tonight. Leo, Grover, all four of us.”

Piper smiled at him, like she was thinking what he was thinking.

“That sounds good, Percy.”

.  
.  
.

“Percy! Percy, hey. Percy Jackson!”

Percy couldn't explain the sense of foreboding that washed over him when he surfaced from the pool and heard someone calling his name. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason, in that moment, he knew whatever happened next was probably going to change his life.

He turned. Waiting for him at the end of the pool was a figure dressed fresh from track, with curling blonde hair and an strange expression on her face. She was holding something in her hand.

Percy swam over to meet Annabeth Chase.

“Your laps are really good,” she said when he was close enough to rest his arms on the pool ledge.

“Thanks,” Percy said, a little bewildered and trying not to show it. Since that summer, Percy and Annabeth had a casual relationship. Not even a casual relationship, it was more like… a smile in the hallways. A request to pass the pencil. Friendly strangers.

Annabeth hesitated, and Percy realised with a jolt that she was nervous. Annabeth didn't get nervous. But her fingers tapped restlessly on her leg, and she was hesitating. Annabeth didn't hesitate, either.

Eventually, Annabeth toed off her sneakers and socks and sat down so her knees were dangling in the pool next to him. She was a lot closer now. She still freckled in the sun, and she was holding a piece of paper in her hand.

“Percy,” she started. “Listen. You're really sweet. And this letter is the nicest thing I've ever been given. I'm so flattered. Really. But the thing is… I just got out of a relationship, and I'm still…”

Annabeth was still talking, but Percy's mind was running a million thoughts a second. Why did it sound like she was was giving him the _'it's not you, it's me’_ talk? And how could Annabeth be breaking up with him if they'd never really been together?

“Percy?” Annabeth tried.

Percy's mouth opened. “I'm confused,” he managed.

Annabeth held up the paper in her hand.

“I got your letter,” she said, and all of a sudden, Percy recognised it.

He felt the colour drain from his face. Annabeth had his twelve year old love letter. Why? How? What was—

“Where did you get that?” he pressed weakly.

Annabeth frowned. “You didn't send this to me?”

The letter had been sent out. Annabeth had been sent his letter. Through Percy's vague mortification, an alarm started to sound in his head. If Annabeth had his letter… where were the others? Had they all been sent out? Distress hit him like a brick wall.

Calypso. If she got his letter, she'd tell Leo, and they'd both hate him, and everything would change. God, Percy was so stupid. Why couldn't he just get over his crushes with ice cream, like the rest of the world?

Like she'd been summoned by Percy's panic, Calypso appeared at the far end of the pool, her hair blowing in the wind. She was holding something in her hand, and Percy knew without a doubt that it was his letter. He swallowed.

“Percy?” Annabeth looked a little concerned. Percy had almost forgotten she was there. She leaned down to study him, eyes scrunched up. “Are you okay?”

Percy took a small breath. “Annabeth,” he said. “I promise, this letter is five years old. I dont have feelings for you anymore. You don't have to worry about me like that.” Then, he grimaced a little bit. “Also, you have full permission to punch me for what I'm about to do next.”

Percy leaned up and kissed her.

Kissing Annabeth at seventeen was a lot different to kissing her at twelve. It succeeded two seconds, for one. But also, it was better. Annabeth froze for half a second, unmoving, and then seemed to melt into the kiss. She was a good kisser. Oddly, Percy wasn't surprised by that. Annabeth was an overachiever in everything.

Percy's neck was starting to hurt from craning up. He wondered if Annabeh's back was hurting too, but neither of them stopped. Her lips were still soft. He wondered where she'd learned to kiss from, and then he remembered. Luke.

He pulled away. Annabeth's lips were swollen. She looked almost like she was going to fall into the pool, before she steadied herself. The back of her neck was pink.

“Percy,” she managed.

Percy looked up at her, hoping the pool would cool his flush down. “Hey,” he said. “Is Calypso still behind me?”

Annabeth looked out above his head. Percy pretended not to think about their kiss.

“No, she's gone.”

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good.”

Annabeth fixed him a small glare, although he felt it was a little undercut by her pink face.

“You're going to put some clothes on, and then we're going to talk about what the hell just happened,” she said.

Percy knew better than to argue.

.  
.  
.

Percy bought them ice creams with some money he found at the bottom of his pool bag. He felt it was the least he could do.

“Do you still like mint chocolate chip?” he asked, and Annabeth had seemed faintly surprised by that.

“Yeah.”

He paid, and they wandered down the road aimlessly, eating their ice creams.

“Okay,” said Annabeth. “Percy, what's going on?”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, focusing very intently on his waffle cone. Maybe if he avoided it for long enough, Annabeth would let it go.

Clearly, he'd been away from Annabeth for way too long. She fixed him with a look.

“Percy.”

“Fine.” Percy kicked a little at the curb as they walked past. “Okay. Look. I may have had a tiny, little crush on you in seventh grade.”

Annabeth had a little grin. “The letter says you were in love with me, Jackson.”

Percy groans. “Fine, I was obsessed with you. But the summer after, you got together with Luke.” He dared a glance in her direction, but she was looking away from him, and he couldn't figure out what's he was thinking without seeing her eyes.

“I remember.”

“Right,” said Percy. “So the thing is… I write letters when I'm trying to get over them. Letters that I'll never send, that they'll never see.”

“Seems like a bit of a flaw in that,” said Annabeth wryly. “So you didn't send this.”

“Believe it or not, I don't really like being crushed with all consuming embarrassment,” Percy said. Annabeth laughed, and he felt a little better. “I have no idea how the letters got out.”

“Hmm.” Annabeth took a careful bite of her ice cream. Her hair glinted under the sun, and her sports bag bumped against her leg every time she took a step. “So there were other people. Other letters.”

Percy grimaced. “That's kind of the problem. Three letters, for three girls. Yours is five years old. But my most recent one is only two weeks.”

Annabeth paused. Her ponytail swung a little, and Percy stopped to face her.

“Calypso. You asked me about her at the pools. She's your third letter, isn't she?”

“I hate that you're smart,” he said. Annabeth smiled smugly. “Anyway. I guess I like her, a little bit. I mean, I'm trying to get over her. She's dating one of my friends.”

“Leo Valdez,” said Annabeth. Percy had momentarily forgotten that she'd known Leo as a kid too. “You didn't want him to know you have feelings for his girlfriend. You didn't want Calypso to feel guilty.”

“You're weirdly good at this,” said Percy.

“That's why you kissed me.” Annabeth looked up at him. Her eyes were startlingly grey, and brighter than he remembered. He realised with a jolt that he had the height advantage on her now. Twelve year old Percy would only have dreamed of this moment. “To fake her out.”

“I’m sorry,” said Percy instantly. “My offer still stands. You're free to punch me.”

“Percy, I'm not going to punch you.” Annabeth rolled her eyes, but Percy knew she wasn't exactly above it. He'd seen her play field hockey. “It's a little problematic. But mostly just sweet.” She blinked speculatively at him. “But what now? Calypso sees us kiss by the pool, then never sees us in the same room ever again?”

Percy shrugged, a little sheepish. “Maybe we miraculously broke up the next day. I'll say you were still in love with Luke.”

Annabeth flinched. Percy wondered if it was a little insensitive to bring up her new breakup, and instantly regretted saying anything.

“That won't work,” said Annabeth. She hesitated. Now, her eyes were stormy. “But…”

“Scheming face,” said Percy. “I remember that face.”

Annabeth took a small breath. “We could pretend to date. For a few weeks, maybe a few months. We hold hands in public, I'll come to your swim meets, we carpool in the mornings.”

Percy blinked at her, several times. His mind staggered and scrambled to keep up.

“What?”

Annabeth shrugged and suddenly decided to keep walking. Now, Percy was not only lagging behind mentally, but physically as well.

“Just an idea.”

“Annabeth, hang on, wait.” He touched her on the shoulder, and she turned. “Why? I mean, what's in this for you?”

Annabeth froze a little, like she hadn't expected him to ask.

“I…” She hesitated. “I'm still in love with Luke.” That surprised Percy more than he wanted to admit.

“Okay…”

“But I always feel like I'm giving more than I'm taking. I mean, since we were thirteen, I was always just waiting around for him to notice me. To _like_ me. I've never dated anyone else. Never kissed anyone else.”

 _Except me_ , Percy thought. He didn't say it.

Annabeth's eyes fluttered. She looked, suddenly, exhausted. “Whenever we break up, he always fills the gap with other girls, and I always just sit around, waiting for him to want me back. I'm tired of being the jealous one all the time.”

“What makes you think I can make Luke jealous?” Percy asked, thinking about Luke Castellan and the way people flocked to him almost as fast as they avoided Percy.

Annabeth looked faintly surprised. “Luke's always been jealous of you.”

Percy froze. Luke Castellan, jealous of Percy. The thought seemed impossible. How? _Why_? What did Percy have that Luke didn't?

Annabeth gave him a wry little smile. “It's just a suggestion, Percy. I don't want to guilt you into anything, I swear. But this way, we both win.” She pulled a pen from her jacket pocket and neatly printed a phone number on his arm. “Think about it,” she said.

She turned and headed the opposite way, back to her house. Percy, watching her go, absently noted that his ice cream had melted all down his hand and formed a chocolate puddle on the ground without him even noticing.

Some girls, he figured, had that sort of effect.

.  
.  
.

Sitting in a booth with Leo, Grover and Piper, helping themselves to an impossibly high mound of fries and other greasy foods should have been the highlight of Percy's day.

Instead, he couldn't stop thinking about Annabeth Chase.

He hadn't talked to her, properly talked to her, in almost five years, and then in the span of one hour, he'd bought her ice cream, kissed her, and she'd offered to be his fake girlfriend.

Percy considered the idea that he was going crazy.

“Percy!”

Percy blinked out of his thoughts when a fry hit him in the face. Leo was preparing to throw another one, and Grover was staring at him in concern from across the table. From beside him, Piper looked vaguely suspicious.

“What's up, man?” Leo asked. “You've been spaced out all night. Piper said this was your idea.”

“It was!” Percy protested. “I'm happy to be here, I was just thinking about—” your _girlfriend, and Annabeth Chase._ Percy wanted to kick himself for even thinking like an asshole. “—school. My grades are slipping.”

“Since when have you cared about that?” Leo frowned. Grover matched that expression.

“Yeah. I've been trying to get you to do your homework since second grade.”

Percy laughed, and the others joined in. He'd missed the sound of that. They hadn't hung out in a group like this, out of school, for a while.

“If they slip any lower, I'm worried they'll pull me off the swim team,” he said. It wasn't what he'd been thinking about, but it wasn't entirely untrue. It was just lower on the list of his worries, at the moment.

“But you're the best swimmer,” Grover said, and Percy felt warmed by his faith. “They wouldn't do that.”

Leo opened his mouth, probably to crack some joke, but Piper leaned in.

“What's on your arm, Percy?”

All gazes drew down to Percy's arm. His sleeve had lifted up, and he'd forgotten to wipe Annabeth's number off. He could just make out the end of a 37 before it disappeared behind his shirt.

Leo whistled. “Percy Jackson has a number.”

“Who's is it?” Piper asked instantly. Both she and Grover looked confused, because they both knew what Leo didn't. Calypso.

“Uh.” Percy couldn't bring himself to tell them the truth. “Just some girl's.”

Piper's eyes narrowed. “What girl?”

“Do we know her?” Grover asked. Leo was still cheering in the background. He was attracting attention from the other customers, and Percy wanted to sink low into his seat and never come out.

“Probably,” he mumbled. “You might know her.”

“Are you gonna call her?” Leo pressed.

“I'm not sure yet,” Percy said. At least that was truthful.

“You should,” Leo continued. “You've been lonely lately. You deserve some love of your own.” His grin was teasing, but Percy felt a bit sick. Piper and Grover exchanged a look that made him feel even more nauseous.

“Yeah,” he said, and stuffed some fries in his mouth so he had an excuse to stop talking.

.  
.  
.

Piper lived out of town, and Percy was really beginning to regret giving her a ride home. The moment Grover and Leo walked out of earshot, Piper turned down the radio and twisted in his seat to stare at him. He hadn't even started driving yet.

“Who's the girl?” Piper said, but she framed it more like an interrogation and not a question from a friend.

“Piper…”

“Seriously, Percy. Is there really a girl? Did you make this number up so Leo wouldn't suspect anything?” Piper threw herself back in her seat, shaking her head. “I can't believe you didn't consult me on this.”

“There's a real girl,” Percy blurted out, without quite meaning to. He instantly regretted it. Stupid Piper and her way of weaseling things out of people.

She brightened. “Who is it? Do I know her? You said I might know her. Is it that girl from summer camp?” Piper then proceeded to go through every single girl Percy had ever made contact with, yet somehow never seeming to land on Annabeth Chase, or anywhere close to her. Percy wondered if Annabeth's idea was really as plausible as she had made it sound. Would anyone really believe that she'd choose to date him?

“Leave it alone, Piper,” said Percy. He wanted to go home and lie in his bed, just so he could relive the day and figure out what he was supposed to do. What answer he was supposed to give Annabeth. She made it sound so easy… but Annabeth made everything sound and look easy. Could Percy really lie like that? Was it really worth it?

“Does Calypso know about this?” Piper asked.

Percy shut his eyes. “Yes. She saw us kissing.”

Piper jolted so fast she almost hit the car roof. “You _kissed_? Percy,” she pleaded. “Who was it? You have to tell me.”

Later, Percy would blame Piper's eyes for making him tell the truth. She was good at the whole baby seal thing; he'd taught her how to do it. Her pleading was what broke him. That was what he'd tell everyone, later.

But in reality, maybe there was a part of Percy that wanted to tell her. Maybe there was an even bigger part of him that wanted an excuse to say yes to Annabeth's crazy plan.

“Annabeth Chase,” he said. “I kissed Annabeth Chase.”

.  
.  
.

When Annabeth Chase woke up to her phone the next morning, she had just one message from an unknown number, and it only said one thing.

_I'm in._


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic hasn't been updated in a while but I suddenly got a burst of inspiration. here you go! the formatting's all word from docs but I'll fix it later (possibly).

Percy's phone was filled with texts when he came downstairs for breakfast - biology notes from Will Solace, a (well worn) argument on mechanics verses nature between Leo and Grover, and about a thousand different messages from Piper, on all platforms, asking him about Annabeth Chase.

Still, there was only really one message that caught his attention, and when he clicked on the contact, all it said was one thing.

_If we're going to do this, we'll need rules._

Percy valiantly tried to stifle his smile at that. Only Annabeth Chase would want to set parameters for a fake relationship. Only Annabeth would even _suggest_ a fake relationship.

“You're happy this morning, honey,” said Sally, drizzling maple syrup on Stella's blue waffles. “Any reason for it?”

“No,” said Percy, pulling up a stool and stealing one of Estelle's strawberries, much to her horror. “I just have a feeling that it's going to be a good day.” 

“Okay,” said his mom, although she was smiling at him in a way that made Percy a little bit uncomfortable. “Here, take some of my strawberries, Stella.”

Percy glanced back down at his phone. Maybe he'd lied a little bit when he'd said Annabeth's text was the only one that mattered. He scrolled down to Calypso's contact, but she hadn't said a thing. Radio silence, since he'd kissed Annabeth at the pool. The part of him he'd tried to bury started to panic.

Estelle nudged him, mouth full of waffle. “Percy,” she said. “We’re gonna be late for school.”

Percy realised she was right. (He hated when she did that). He shoved a waffle between his teeth and ushered Stella to the car, and as they pulled out, he did his best not to look at Calypso's house next door, pretty and blue, with the yellow curtain drawn over her window. 

Percy didn't look at all. But he hated that he still thought about it.

 

.

.

.

 

Annabeth sat in front of Percy in Latin. He knew because she always picked the same seat; middle second row with a clear view to the front. She always had all her books (a skill which Percy sorely lacked), and she always sat next to Luke, who alternated between being the perfect student and passing notes to Annabeth when Mr. Brunner wasn't looking.

“Hey.” A crumpled piece of paper hit Percy's cheek. Piper gave him one of her funny, knowing looks. “What’s up?”

Percy realised he'd been frowning at Annabeth's hair, straightened around her shoulders. Luke wasn't here today, so she was taking notes by herself. 

“ _Percy,_ ” Piper hissed again. She threw another paper ball at him. Percy frowned, and moved to throw it back.

“Mr. Jackson,” said Mr. Brunner, without looking away from the board. “Please refrain from wasting paper.” 

A few kids turned around to look. Annabeth did too, and when she saw the small pile of crumpled paper at his feet, she raised her eyebrows. 

Percy grinned at her, and Annabeth made a point of turning away. Still, he thought he might have seen a hint of a smile. 

Piper leaned in close to help him pick up her mess. “What was _that_?” she whispered.

“What was what?” he said innocently.

“You and _Annabeth_ . When you told me you kissed, I thought you were kidding. Or suffering from some kind of delusion. She just _smiled_ at you. Annabeth _Chase_!”

Percy fidgeted a little. “Keep your voice down,” he said. 

Piper drew away, reluctantly, but he caught her giving him odd little looks every now and again, like she couldn't make out what to think of him. For the record, Annabeth didn't turn back again. Her head stayed bent studiously over her work, pen tapping at the desk, fingers occasionally going to toy with the ends of her hair. She didn't move again until the bell rung, when she stopped Percy by the hand as he tried to walk past.

“Hey, Percy,” she said, glancing at Piper. “Can I have a moment?”

Percy couldn't tell if Piper was gleeful or just deeply distrustful by the expression she gave them, but she left without saying anything. Annabeth didn't exactly smile at Percy when they were alone, but her eyes did become a little less stormy, which Percy counted as a win. 

Annabeth frowned at him when he paused for too long. “What?”

“You straightened your hair,” he said, without even meaning to. She gave him an uncertain look.

“Yeah. Sometimes I straighten it.” Her frown took on another dimension, something that seemed to say to Percy, _be careful what you say next_. “Is there a problem with that?”

“No,” said Percy hastily. “You have nice hair.” She gave him another strange look. Percy fumbled for a different (less embarrassing) topic. “So. Rules?”

“Rules,” Annabeth confirmed. “Walk with me.” 

Percy wasn't stupid. He walked with her. Maybe he was just imagining it, but he thought people were staring at them a little as they made their way down the hallway. He didn't even blame them, really. He wasn't exactly the clean-cut kind of guy that Annabeth normally hung out with.

“I didn't realise I was dating my teacher,” said Percy. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Rules are important, Percy. Do you really want someone to get hurt because we weren't careful?”

She had a good point. He hated when she had those.

“Okay,” he relented. “Rules, I guess.”

Annabeth lead them to a small table outside that he'd never seen before. She sat down and started pulling things out of her bag - an energy drink, a sandwich, an organised pencil case and an empty notebook. At the top, she wrote out, _ANNABETH & PERCY. _

“Wow,” said Percy, throwing himself into a seat across the table. “There's a whole notebook dedicated just for us?”

“I had a new one lying around already,” Annabeth said defensively. She scowled when Percy grinned. “We _definitely_ need rules, or this is going to be over quickly.” 

“Ouch,” said Percy, with no real feeling. He dug a bag of chips out of his bag and leaned over to squint at the book. “Okay. Hit me.”

“Rule number one,” said Annabeth. “Nobody else knows. Not even our families.”

“My mom will know,” said Percy, already feeling guilty at the thought of lying to her. “She always knows.”

“Well, you can't tell her,” said Annabeth, pointing her pen at him. “It's in the _rules_.”

“Fine,” Percy conceded. He offered his chips to her, but she wrinkled her nose. “Next.”

“Okay. Rule number two. Affection. We can hold hands, we can hug, we can kiss on the cheek. But no real kissing without consultation.” 

“Not even for luck?”

“Especially not for luck,” said Annabeth gravely. She looked a little bit like she wanted to smile. _Maybe_. Reading Annabeth was like normal reading - Percy had to focus hard, and even then sometimes it didn't make sense. 

“Also,” she said, “you should come to my track events.”

“Okay,” said Percy. “Then you have to come to my swim meets.”

Annabeth wrote it down, and then paused. “Your turn,” she said.

“You're letting _me_ make a rule? What's happened to you?”

“I can still revoke that right,” Annabeth warned. Percy suspected that she wouldn't, though.

“Okay,” said Percy. “We both have the power to call it off. Anytime, any place. If it's too much, or it's going wrong, or we can't do it anymore, we're allowed to end it. No explanation needed.”

Annabeth looked up from her book. Percy had always been so busy studying Annabeth, he hadn't ever considered that she might be studying him too. 

“That's a good idea, Percy,” she said, finally, and he felt a bit embarrassed.

“That's all I've got.”

“One more thing.” Annabeth suddenly looked a little apprehensive. “You’re going to have to play nice with Luke.”

Percy stiffened. “ _Luke_? Annabeth-”

“I know,” she interrupted. “You guys have your weird arch-rival thing-”

“You mean Luke has it _out_ for me.”

“-but he's still an important part of my life!”

“Can't I just avoid him forever?” Percy frowned. He kicked at the table a little. “I'll pretend I'm jealous of your relationship or something.”

“No,” said Annabeth. She softened, a little. “Percy, Luke's going to be the hardest one to convince. He knows me, maybe even better than anyone else. If you stay away, he's going to get suspicious.”

Percy glanced at her. She looked weirdly earnest under the sunlight. Her hair was beginning to curl at the bottom, and she looked strangely almost like she was twelve years old again, impossibly pretty, asking him if she could stay the night because she'd fought with her stepmom. He hadn't said no then, either.

“Does this matter? Really matter?”

Annabeth didn't hesitate. “Yes, Percy.”

“Okay.” Percy deflated, and the energy seemed to go into Annabeth's smile, which suddenly took up the whole space. “But if he messes with me first-”

“I'll be first in line to punch him,” Annabeth promised. Percy reached over and slid the pen from her fingers. Underneath the other rules, he carefully wrote out, _Percy will TRY HIS BEST to be nice to Luke_. He underlined it for emphasis.

“I get it,” said Annabeth wryly. “Now sign your name underneath.”

“What?”

“Sign your name underneath,” she said impatiently. “It's not an official document unless you sign it, Percy! I want your promise in writing.”

Percy felt a little bit like laughing. Still, he signed underneath anyway, and managed to control it when Annabeth added her own.

“Now it's official,” she said. “Percy Jackson, we are now business partners.”

“Very romantic,” said Percy. Annabeth laughed, and for that moment, Percy felt unreasonably, uncontrollably pleased with himself.

“So when does the rest of the world get to know?” asked Percy. “Because I accidentally told Piper about the kiss and now I have three hundred urgent texts from her…” 

Annabeth considered it. “Tomorrow,” she said. “Pick me up at seven. Come early.”

“ _Seven_?” Percy blinked. “Annabeth, seven is when my alarm goes off.”

“Seven,” said Annabeth again, shutting her book and shoving it in her bag. She stuck the pencil into her hair. “Don't be late.” 

 

.

.

.

 

Percy was late. 

It was almost eight by the time he pulled up to Annabeth's house. It looked mostly the same as he's always remembered it; white picket fences, a swing set in the backyard. The garden was immaculate, just like the whole neighborhood. There wasn't even any junkmail sticking out of the mailbox.

Annabeth appeared at the car window. Her hair was curly today, but she wore owl earrings, and her lips were glossy, like she'd tried hard to look sweet and girly this morning. It kind of ruined the image when she knocked sharply at the window and then pointed to her wrist.

 _You're late_ , she mouthed.

Percy rolled his eyes and let her in. “I had to drop my little sister off at school.”

Annabeth glanced at him. “You could have done that with me.”

Percy shifted. “I thought it would be weird.”

“Why? I know Stella.”

That was true. Annabeth _did_ know Estelle. Before Calypso, when they were still friends, Annabeth had been Estelle's favourite. Percy had pretended like he hated having his little sister along, but secretly, the days all three of them hung out were his favourite, partly because he got Annabeth all to himself for a few hours. They'd go to the park, or get an ice cream, or take Stella to see a movie. At the end of the day, his mom would always give Annabeth ten dollars and say, “For babysitting both of my kids,” and Annabeth would blush.

The thing was… that had been a while ago, and Estelle had been so little. He wasn't sure if Annabeth remembered any of that, and he was pretty sure that Stella didn't.

“I haven't told her yet,” Percy finally settled on. “About us, I mean.”

Annabeth seemed to relax. He could feel her looking at him from his peripheral. 

“Okay,” she said. “But we're going to have to learn to fit into each other's routines. Like carpooling in the morning.”

“I am not coming to get you at seven every morning.”

“You didn't even come at seven,” said Annabeth. “You were late.” 

“And I felt very guilty about it,” said Percy innocently, which made Annabeth roll her eyes.

“I'd knew you'd be late, Seaweed Brain. I planned an hour ahead.”

Percy gasped, and honked the horn several times just for good measure.

“Annabeth Chase, you're a deceitful, dirty _liar_.”  

 

.

.

.

 

Percy's hands got weirdly sweaty as they pulled up to school. It wasn't like he was _afraid_ , it was just - weird, that was all. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. He had this crazy feeling that when they got out of the car, the whole school would laugh. Plus, he still hadn't heard anything from Calypso, which was weird. He couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not.

“Hey,” said Annabeth, who was watching him. “You ready?”

“Sure,” said Percy, which was kind of, almost completely, a huge lie.

“Me neither,” she said. “Tell me something good.”

Percy blinked. “What?”

“It's what Luke, Thalia and I used to do,” said Annabeth. She looked a bit embarrassed, almost like she regretted saying anything. “When one of us was scared, we'd ask the other two to tell us something good, or unexpected. It motivated us to get out there, and it distracted us from worrying.”

“Okay,” he said. “Uh - I used to have a crush on you?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I already knew that, Seaweed Brain. Try again.”

Percy would have felt a little stupid, but she was smiling at him.

“I like your hair when it's curly,” he said. Annabeth's expression shifted. “I mean, it's nice straight, too, but I like your hair when it's like this. Natural.”

“Thanks, Percy,” said Annabeth. Her fingers reached up to her hair, and then changed route at the last minute, to play with her earrings. “Okay. Your turn.”

“Okay, uh - tell me something good.”

“I miss you,” said Annabeth, without missing a beat. “And Piper, Grover, Leo. Everyone. But you were my best friend. I shouldn't have let us grow apart.” 

Percy felt a warm feeling start to envelope him. “It wasn't your fault.”

“Maybe,” said Annabeth in a tone that meant she didn't believe it, and didn't want to argue about it. She undid her seatbelt. “So. Ready to go, Jackson?”

“Sure,” said Percy. And he really was, this time.

They got out of the car. There were no gasps, or whispers, or a dramatic slow motion sequence. Crowds didn't part for them on the way in. Buy every so often, someone would glance in their direction, and their expression would change.

Annabeth reached down and took his hand. Her grip was warm, and slightly sweaty, too. He felt a little bit better in knowing that Annabeth wasn't as calm as she looked.

She lead the way to her locker, and he leaned on the one next to it.

“This is weird,” Annabeth admitted, pulling out her books.

“Really weird,” Percy agreed. She handed him some of her books to hold. “Hey, you take AP Physics? Are you good?” Annabeth raised her eyebrows. “Right. Stupid question.”

“Why do you ask?” 

Percy fidgeted with a book cover. “I guess I'm… kind of failing class.”

Annabeth glanced at him. “Which class?"

“Most of them,” Percy admitted. “Mr. D's threatened to pull me from swim team.”

“Ah.” Annabeth's expression cleared. “Do you need a tutor?”

“No,” said Percy instinctively. Then he thought of his mom, and his swim team, and what they'd both say if he said he had to quit. “Maybe.”

“I'll tutor you,” said Annabeth, like it was that easy. She swung her locker closed. “And I'll - god, _Leo_!” 

Leo stood where Annabeth's locker door had previously concealed. He looked almost as surprised as Annabeth did.

“Annabeth,” he said. “Hi.”

“Hi,” said Annabeth. Percy gave him a little wave.

“Hey, Leo.”

“Sorry,” started Leo after a minute. “Are you holding Annabeth's books? Is this - are you guys… what is happening here?”

Percy kind of wanted to crack up at the look on his face. Annabeth looked like she was creeping close to laughter, too. 

“Leo!” Grover jogged up to them. He looked kind of sweaty underneath his curls. He came to a complete stop when he saw the three of them, blinking rapidly. “Annabeth! Hi.”

“Not this again,” said Percy.

“Sorry, Percy,” said Leo, rife with sarcasm. Grover's apology sounded, at least, somewhat sincere in comparison. “When you said you had a girl's number, we didn't think you meant _Annabeth Chase_.”

“Piper's going to kill you for keeping her in the dark,” Grover agreed, before turning to Annabeth. “How are you, by the way?”

“Stop being nice!” Leo commanded. “The world has just flipped on its side! We've travelled back five years. In what universe did we ever think these two would be friends again? No offence.”

“None taken,” said Annabeth dryly, although Percy kind of felt otherwise. He resisted the urge to kick Leo in the shin. 

“Um,” said Grover, who looked a little bewildered. “So are you two… you know. Friends?”

Percy glanced at Annabeth. “Something like that.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, in a gesture that was becoming familiar at an alarming rate. She said something under her breath, although it sounded something like, _you're so lucky this isn't real_. 

“I have practice after school, so don't wait,” she informed him, and turned on her heel. She bumped into Piper on the way out, who looked somewhere between awed and all-knowing.

“Did I just see you guys talking to Annabeth Chase?”

“You did,” said Grover gravely.

“Not only that,” Leo said gleefully. “They arrived together.”

Piper gave Percy a scrutinising look, like she was picking apart every cognitive function. Percy suddenly felt that if he breathed wrong, she'd discover the whole plan.

“Interesting,” she said after a moment. She exchanged a meaningful look with Grover, and after a second, he grabbed Leo's arm.

“Hey,” he said, “so I have a question about… my car. Can you come look at it?”

“But you bike to school,” Leo said, bewildered, as Grover dragged him away. “You always say cars aren't eco-friendly…”

As soon as they were out of earshot, Piper rounded on him.

“What is going on, Percy? Are you dating Annabeth?”

Percy suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable. And sheepish. “Sort of. I guess. I mean… yeah. I am. I thought you'd be happy.”

“You know, the other day, when I said you should get over Calypso, I didn't mean like this! And not _overnight_ ,” said Piper. Her hands were on her hips, in a discerning kind of way.

“Piper-”

“Annabeth,” Piper continued heatedly, “is not that kind of girl. She is not a rebound girl, she's a Harvard-bound girl. She gets straight As. She guns for team captain. She lives in the nice part of town. And she is way too good for you.”

“You're supposed to be _my_ friend,” said Percy irritably. “Why are you protecting her?”

“I’m protecting _you_. But yelling at you is the only way to get it through your dumb head,” said Piper. “You’re moving too quickly. You can't wake up in love with Callie one day, and Annabeth the next. That's not how it works.”

“Nobody said anything about love,” said Percy sulkily.

“Annabeth just broke up with Luke, too. Did you know that? You're _using_ each other. It's gonna hurt when it blows up in your face.”

Piper really had no idea just how much they were using each other. But if she thought dating was unhealthy, there was no way she'd approve of… whatever he and Annabeth were doing. Fake dating. Could he even call it fake dating?

“Pipes,” he said, touching her arm reassuringly. “I've got this. And so does Annabeth. She knows about Callie, and I'll watch out for Luke, but it's not about them. It's about her. I swear, Piper. I won't do anything to hurt her.”

Lies. It was all lies, all of it, and it hurt a little, to say them like that. Piper had always been an exceptionally good judge of character, but she must have seen something in his eyes to decide he was telling the truth, because she deflated like a balloon.

“Okay,” she said. “I believe you. Just… be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” said Percy. “I'll be careful. I promise, Pipes.”

Piper didn't look completely reassured, but she didn't push the subject any further, which was good, because Percy hadn't realised how hard lying to his friends would turn out to be.

 

.

.

.

 

Throughout the day, Percy kept catching glimpses of Calypso out of the corner of his eye. But whenever he tried to get her attention, she always seemed to evade him somehow - she had class, she was on the phone, Leo urgently needed her opinion on which Game of Thrones character was her favourite. 

Percy never got a chance to say more than three words to her, and he was just about ready to think it was intentional when he bumped into her on the way out of school.

“Percy!”

“Hey,” he said, trying to ignore her surprised look. “Going home?”

“Yeah,” she said. Her hair was down, like it always was, brown and wavy, and she wore brown sandals with her dress. Percy couldn't help but think how different she was to Annabeth.

“Need a ride?”

Calypso hesitated. “That's okay, Percy. I can walk.”

“Come on,” he said. “You live next door. It's not exactly like you're out of the way. Plus, you can pick the radio station.”

“Sold,” said Calypso with a smile, although she still looked a little awkward. They didn't say anything all the way to the car, and Percy wondered if she was thinking about what he was thinking about - ie, the letter, and what it entailed.

As promised, Calypso turned on the radio station. 

“Since when do you listen to the mainstream channels?” Calypso teased.

“Uh,” Percy shifted his grip on the steering wheel. “You know, actually, I don't.”

“Ah.” Percy could see Calypso smiling a little out of the corner of his eye. “I'm guessing Annabeth does?”

“So you know about… you know. Annabeth, then?” Percy managed.

“Piper spent half of homeroom talking about it,” aaid Calypso with a small laugh. “Also, I kind of saw you two together. At the pools?”

Percy winced. “Not my best moment.” 

“So it's true then?” said Calypso. “You and Annabeth are together.”

“We're…” He couldn't say it. There had been some stupid part of him that had thought he'd miraculously get over Calypso in the two days he'd spent with Annabeth - but Calypso was still exactly the same, and he thought maybe he was even worse. “It's something like that.”

“I didn't think she was your type,” said Calypso absentmindedly. She was doodling on the corner of her textbook now.

“I had a crush on her when I was a kid,” Percy said, and then he waited. She was going to bring up the letter… the conversation was leading perfectly up to it, there was no way she wouldn't pick that up - and then all this fake-dating would have been for nothing, and he'd have to tell everyone everything, and the world as Percy Jackson knew it would end.

“Full circle, huh? That's cute,” said Calypso. Then she changed the subject. Just like that - like it was nothing. Like the weather or something. Percy couldn't figure out whether he was more relieved or disappointed.

 

.

.

.

 

Percy's phone rang in the middle of dinner, and Annabeth's name flashed on the screen before he could hide it.

“Who's Annabeth?” Estelle asked accusingly. Sally looked up from her pasta.

“Just a friend,” said Percy quickly to Estelle. “Pass me the salt?”

But it was too late. Sally was giving him one of her looks from across the table.

“Annabeth? Haven't heard that name in a while. Are you two talking again?”

“Annabeth,” said Paul consideringly. “Was that your friend from summer camp?”

“No,” said Sally. “You remember Annabeth, honey. Very smart, very pretty. Percy had a very cute crush on her.”

“Percy had a crush on a girl?” Estelle asked, as Paul murmured his remembrances. She was, apparently, now invested. 

“ _Mom_ ,” said Percy.

“She used to babysit you,” Sally told Estelle. “You've seen pictures of her with Percy, they're all up on the mantelpiece.”

“ _Mom_.”

“Percy was friends with a pretty girl?” Estelle said. “Something doesn't add up.”

“Stella!” Percy tried. 

“I’m sure you'll pick up some memories if we get out the old photo albums,” said Sally thoughtfully.

“I am an island,” Percy said finally. Across the table, Paul gave him the sort of smile that said _I feel you, kid._

 

.

.

.

 

“So,” said Sally, which was never a good way to start off a conversation with his mom. She handed him a plate to dry. “Annabeth. You're back in touch?”

“Sort of,” said Percy vaguely. 

“For how long?”

“A couple of days.”

“Right.” Sally sounded amused, but her face was turned towards the sink, so he couldn't tell. “Why are you back in touch?”

Percy frowned. “When did we start playing twenty questions?”

Sally turned and dried her hands on her apron. “Sorry, honey. It's just, you mention Annabeth again out of the blue, she's such a pretty girl, and what with her and Luke-”

Percy blinked. “How do you know about Luke?” 

“Piper told me.”

“Of course she did.”

Sally smiled at him. It was the kind of smile that would warm anybody up - it reminded him of blue chocolate chip cookies, and Montauk. “What I'm trying to say is, I know you have a soft spot for her-”

"I don't have a _soft spot_ for Annabeth, mom-"

"Okay, okay, sorry Percy," Sally said. She was definitely amused now. "I know it's weird getting dating advice from your mom. I just think you should be a little careful. It doesn't matter how nice you are or what your intentions are, when you're a teenager it's so easy to get hurt." She reached out and gave his hair a little ruffle. "So just bear that in mind for your old mom. Okay?" 

"Okay," Percy relented. He couldn't help but smile at her, just a little. "I'll be careful."

"Good," she said, and she was about to say something else when Paul came in.

 "Percy, please pick a movie before your sister does. If I have to watch _Finding Nemo_ one more time…" 

Percy went to diffuse the Stella Movie Picking Incident of 2019. But just before he went, he paused outside the kitchen door. Paul and his mom were talking about him in low voices.

"...think he'll be okay?" Paul was saying.

"He'll be fine," said Sally. "It's just me who's having a difficult time. I mean, I've always had suspicions about the girls he likes but he's never _really_ dated before, not seriously."

"He's a big boy, Sally," said Paul. Percy could imagine them hugging or something kinda weird like that. "You think we should be worried about this girl?"

"Oh, no. Annabeth was such a sweetheart…"

He couldn't tell them, Percy realised. He couldn't tell them he was dating - fake-dating, whatever - Annabeth. They were just gonna have to keep it a secret. It was better than lying to his mom about it all. 

Wow, Percy thought suddenly. Having a girlfriend was hard work.

 

.

.

.

 

Later that night Percy locked his door and turned his music up loud so that he could call Annabwth back. She picked up after three rings and he could practically hear her amusement through the phone.

"Is that _Paramore_ I hear?" 

"They're a valid group," said Percy defensively. "Leave me alone." 

"Why does it sound like you're calling me from an indie frat boy party?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't want my family to hear me talking to you," Percy said. He winced. "Okay, that sounded bad."

Annabeth laughed a little bit. "It's okay. I get it."

"I'm sorry," Percy said, spinning back and forth on his desk chair. "I know it's in the rules or whatever."

"Forget the rules," Annabeth said. Percy made a big deal about gasping through the phone. 

"That's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

He could picture her rolling her eyes.

"Whatever," she said. "Look, if you don't wanna tell them, you don't have to tell them. At your house we can be Annabeth-and-Percy for real. Just friends."

Percy smothered a little smile before he remembered that he didn't have to. "I like the sound of that," he said.

"Good," she said.

Percy started doodling little stick figures on his notebook. "So why'd you call me earlier?"

"Oh, yeah," said Annabeth like she'd almost forgotten. "I was thinking about what you said. How you needed tutoring."

"Right." Percy was starting to feel a little embarrassed that he'd ever mentioned it. Annabeth was probably one of the smartest girls in school, and he could barely keep himself on the swim team. Go figure. "About that… you don't have to…"

"Well I have some free afternoons coming up," said Annabeth, totally ignoring him. "Specifically Fridays, straight after school. So if you wanted…"

"I might get a coveted spot on the Chase calendar?" Percy teased.

"Okay, I take it all back," said Annabeth. "I hate you, I'm breaking up with you, don't you dare talk to me again-"

"No, no, no, hang on!" he said. God, she sounded so _smug_. "Are you really serious?"

"Sure," she said like it was no big deal. "It'll be fun."

"You say that now," Percy said. "But you haven't seen me try trigonometry."

"No worries. I love trigonometry," said Annabeth seriously.

Percy groaned. "I can't believe I'm dating a nerd."

Annabeth laughed. He was getting good at doing that. Making her laugh, that is.

"Good thing this isn't a real relationship," she said. "We would have broken up five times over already."

"Through _no_ fault of mine."

"Whatever," Annabeth said again, like she was twelve or something. "So we're on for Fridays?" 

"We're on for Fridays," Percy confirmed. He made fun of her Percy-and-Annabeth contract for a little while until she got annoyed and hung up, and then he just laid on his bed listening to _Paramore_ , wondering how his life had become this, making plans with Annabeth Chase over the phone and deceiving every single person he knew.

Finally he got up and looked out his window to Calypso's house. Sometimes their curtains would both be open at the same time and they'd wave goodnight to each other. Today her curtains were open but Percy didn't even wait half an hour for her to appear like the stupid heartsick fool he was normally would.

He gave it five minutes (come on, he was still a romantic guy, he was gonna have a _little_ bit of hope still) and when she didn't appear, he turned out the lights.


	3. three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> months later, I'm back again! I had to force myself through this chapter - for some reason it just refused to work for me, and I had to cut out a lot of cute scenes that didn't fit right. but I do have some exciting plans for later chapters, and this one was necessary in setting up for those, so I hope you'll forgive me.

The doorbell rang at an ungodly hour. Percy ran downstairs to answer it, and when Annabeth gave him an expectant look from his doorstep, he almost closed the door on her.

"You're early," he said.

"It's five to eight."

"Like I said— _early_." 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She dug her hands into her pockets, a bit awkwardly, and Percy wondered if he was supposed to invite her in. He probably was, but his mom and Paul and Stella were all in doing their family breakfast thing, and he didn't want to scare her away with the sheer weirdness of the Jackson-Blofis family just yet.

"Ready for round two?" she asked. 

"Round two?"

"Of the _plan_?" Annabeth emphasised. "Day two is just as important as day one. We have to build over the framework we laid down yesterday. If we want this to be believable, we have to do it right."

Percy blinked. "You are such a dork."

She scowled at him, but her lips were twitching. "Says the guy wearing Spiderman pyjama pants."

Admittedly, Percy had forgotten about those. Not his proudest moment, but he stood by his choice. 

"Percy, remember you're—" Before Percy could do or say anything to prevent the fact, his mom came up behind him and promptly stopped. "Annabeth!"

Annabeth blushed. It was the first time he'd seen her do that since they were twelve.

"Hi, Mrs. Jackson."

"Sally," his mom corrected instantly. "It's so nice to see you again, dear. I saw the speech you gave for the bicentennial the other week. It was really great." 

Percy wondered when his mom had gone to see Anmabeth's speech—and why she'd gone to see it in the first place.

Annabeth was still a bit pink. "Thanks, Sally. You should have come and said hi." 

"I didn't know if it would be appropriate," his mom said warmly, glancing from Percy to Annabeth. "But next time, I will."

"Mom," Percy interjected, "Annabeth and I kind of have to get to school…"

"Right," Sally said. "That's what I came to remind you about. You said you'd take Estelle to school today."

 _Crap_. Amidst all the… Annabeth-ness, Percy had totally forgotten about all the big-brother promises that he'd made his mom. 

"Estelle can come with us," Annabeth said. "Right, Percy?" 

Percy couldn't help the furrow that came into his eyebrows, despite how hard he tried to keep a neutral expression. 

"Sure," he agreed. 

Sally's face burst into a motherly beam. "You're too sweet, Annabeth," she said. "Percy, get changed and grab your sister, won't you?" 

Percy was a pretty good son - he did what he was told, swapping out his Spiderman pants for something a little less eye-catching, and poking Estelle in the side every thirty seconds to get her to hurry up. By the time they were both finished and tripping down the stairs, Sally and Annabeth were engrossed in deep conversation. Percy caught something vague about Annabeth's dad, but when he got into earshot she straightened up and both of them fell silent. 

"So you're Annabeth," said Estelle, who was evaluating her very carefully. 

"I'm Annabeth," she agreed, a bit awkwardly. 

"Estelle, where's your homework?" Sally chided, having done the obligatory school bag check. Estelle was, of course, immediately the picture of innocence. "You guys go ahead and get in the car," Sally said with a fond eye roll. "Estelle and I are going to find her misplaced homework."

Percy and Annabeth went out to her car. Hers was way nicer than his, of course, the paintwork was hardly scratched and she didn't have empty McDonald's drinks lying around. She even had an air freshener; the label read _SEA-SALT SPRAY SCENT_. 

"She's so big now," Annabeth was saying, she sounded caught somewhere between sad and amazed. 

"I guess," said Percy. "But so is her attitude."

Annabeth began to smile at him, but something changed when she saw the expression on his face. She stopped just outside the car and reached out to touch his arm, a move that surprised him. 

"Hey," she said. "Something wrong?" 

Percy didn't know how he could explain it to her. There were moments here and there, like this, that just made him realise that they were kind of strangers to each other. Sure, they'd known each other as kids. But Percy wasn't that twelve year old anymore, and neither was Annabeth.

"Estelle gets attached to people really easily," Percy said finally. 

Annabeth's expression cleared. "You don't want her getting attached to me."

"No," Percy protested, "I just think… This isn't permanent, you know? And I don't want her becoming your best friend, and then you drop out of our lives and crush her."

"I wouldn't do that." Annabeth's face was inscrutable. After a second, she opened the car door and got in, so he couldn't see her face. "You're right, Percy. This isn't permanent. It makes sense, and… I'll be careful."

Percy leaned in through the open window and grinned at her. After a moment, she smiled back. 

"Has anyone ever told you you're the coolest fake girlfriend ever?" 

"Not nearly enough," Annabeth said teasingly. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Annabeth was true to her word for the drive to Estelle's school. She was sweet, and endlessly patient with Estelle's many questions, but she didn't turn on Babysitter Mode, and when Estelle got out of the car she leaned up and whispered in Percy's ear. 

"Annabeth's really pretty. But don't date her, okay? I like Calypso better."

"Did I pass the test?" Annabeth asked when Percy got back in the car. He didn't know why he felt kind of guilty. 

"With flying colours," he said. 

When they finally got to school, Piper was waiting at her spot on the sidewalk, like usual, and she looked surprised to see Annabeth getting out of the car. 

"You're late," she accused. "Class starts in three."

"Crap." Annabeth gathered up all her stuff, and just about left her Calc book behind. Percy grabbed it for her, and she looked weirdly flushed when he handed it to her. 

"See you at lunch," he said. They'd agreed to spend their lunch together last night - it was part of The Plan.

"Sure," Annabeth said. She hesitated, and then she did something really weird. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Later," she said, and disappeared into the school. 

Piper and Percy, who weren't so worried about making it to class on time, hung back. 

Piper was staring at him. "What was that?" 

"What?" 

"That… goodbye. I've had more romantic moments with my grandma, but you look like she just gave you a lapdance."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Gross, Piper."

"No offence," said Piper, which Percy knew meant he would probably take great offence, "but that was a lame kiss. It wasn't even a kiss, it was just a peck. It's like you guys aren't even dating."

Percy's fingers froze where he had previously been fidgeting with his bag strap. 

"We're just not into PDA," he said. "We don't want to be one of those couples."

Piper laughed. "Percy, every couple in high school is one of _those_ couples. You don't exactly seem like the kind of guy who wouldn't be overly touchy with his girlfriend. Plus, Luke and Annabeth used to be all over each other." Piper glanced at him and her expression softened. "Oh, Percy. I didn't mean it."

Percy hadn't realised that his jaw had tightened until Piper noticed it. He must have really been getting into the character of jealous boyfriend instinctively…

"It's okay," he said. He hesitated. "I guess I'm just kind of worried about kissing her. You know… with the whole Luke thing."

"Haven't you already kissed?" 

Percy flushed without meaning to. Piper smiled at him. 

"It's cute that you're still embarrassed." 

"That was different," he said awkwardly. "We weren't exactly… together then." For once, not a lie. Percy was quite proud of himself. 

Piper considered it for a moment. The hallways were empty, but Percy could faintly hear people talking in classrooms as they walked past. 

"Maybe I'm biased," Piper said, "but I never thought Annabeth and Luke were right for each other. I know she loved him, but…" She paused, and for some crazy reason Percy wanted to hear the rest of what she was going to say, but she switched tactics. "Annabeth and Luke were together for a long time. I never thought she'd even look at anybody else. But if she chose you…" She smiled at him. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just kiss her, okay? And screw what other people say." 

Percy cracked a grin. "Sticking it to the man, are we?" 

"Only _always_ ," Piper said. 

They split off to their different classes, and as Percy made his way to bio, the guilt pool that had taken up residence in his gut seemed to grow three times bigger. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy rang Annabeth after second period. 

"Piper's getting suspicious," he said, head ducked in his locker. 

She made a cute little frustrated noise. "Seriously?" 

"She thinks it's weird that we haven't kissed."

"We _have_ kissed."

Percy went pink again. He wished people would stop bringing that up. 

"Not in front of her. Or anyone else in this school." 

"It's only been two days!" 

"I bought us a bit of time," Percy said. "I… told her I was scared to kiss you. Then she gave me a really inspiring pep talk, so now I think she's expecting us to tear all our clothes off the next time we see her. Sorry."

Fortunately, Percy's life was spared, because Annabeth wasn't really listening. "You said you were scared to kiss me?" 

"This isn't funny, Annabeth!" 

"Sorry, sorry!" She didn't sound sorry. She sounded like she was trying not to laugh. "Okay, well, you kind of have a point. I don't think Jason's buying it either."

Percy fiddled with a picture hung up in his locker. It was one of him, Grover and the other summer camp kids, still wet from a water balloon fight. 

"What about Luke?" he asked. "Is he buying it?" 

There was a small pause on the line. "We haven't really talked about it yet. He was away yesterday, and it felt weird to bring it up." 

"Right." 

"But I will," Annabeth promised. 

"Okay," Percy said. "So what should we do about this kissing thing?" 

"Percy," said Annabeth seriously, "it's time to break a rule." 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy was still amused by Annabeth's rule-breaking comment when he found her in the hallway outside the cafeteria just before lunch. She pulled a face as he got closer. 

"Stop laughing at me." 

"I didn't say anything," he protested. 

"I could just tell," she said. He rolled his eyes at her, and then they both fell silent. Annabeth leaned over and peered into the cafeteria. 

"Are they in there?" he asked. 

"Yep," Annabeth said. She sounded nervous, which was uncharacteristic of her, but Percy wasn't exactly feeling so hot either, so he let it slide. 

She turned back to him and licked her lips. "I have an idea." 

Percy raised his eyebrows at her. "An idea." 

"Shut up," she said, giving him a little shove. "What do you think about… a practice kiss."

"A practice kiss?" He grinned at her. "Annabeth, we've kissed before." 

She looked like she wanted to punch him for being so annoying. "A kiss which took me totally by surprise, by the way." She crossed her arms. "Think about it, Seaweed Brain. If it looks like we hate kissing each other, everyone will be suspicious, and then this whole plan will be for nothing." 

"Annabeth—" 

"This way will look more natural. Like we actually like each other. Romantically, of course."

" _Annabeth_." 

"It's not like I _want_ to kiss you. But if we're going to breach our contract, we might as well—" 

Percy leaned in and kissed her. Annabeth's arms uncrossed themselves and instinctively wrapped around his neck, drawing him in closer. 

Percy couldn't lie—he'd thought about their kiss before. He couldn't help it. And it wasn't like he _liked_ Annabeth or anything (Calypso's face floated in his mind) but Annabeth… well, she was a good kisser. A really good kisser. 

"Nice, Chase!" said a guy walking past. 

Percy and Annabeth flew apart like shrapnel. Annabeth laughed at the guy, but her cheeks were pink. 

"Shut up, Malcolm," she yelled after him. Then, she gave Percy an accusing look. "What did I say about taking me by surprise?" 

"It was _your_ idea to kiss."

Annabeth frowned at him, but he could tell she wasn't really mad, because the corners of her mouth kept trying to tick up. 

"Hold my hand," she ordered. "We're going in."

He laced his fingers through hers, she dragged him in a little closer, and they both stepped into the cafeteria. Annabeth's shoulders tensed, and Percy leaned down to whisper in her ear before he could think twice about it. 

"It's been a while since you called me Seaweed Brain," he said, and Annabeth smiled begrudgingly at him. Her grip loosened just a little on his hand, just so that he could feel the blood circulating again. "Your table or mine?" he added. 

He followed Annabeth's gaze to her usual table. Jason was talking to a girl with long brown hair, and next to him—Percy accidentally met the eyes of Luke Castellan. Percy hadn't properly looked at him in a long time; he had a scar that hadn't been there when they were twelve, and his expression wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy. 

"Yours," Annabeth decided. Percy could have kissed her (again). Instead, he pulled her by the hand to his table, where his friends were already sitting. Percy took note of Calypso's smile in particular, who was sitting with Leo's arm around her shoulders. 

Annabeth must have been thinking the same thing he was, because out of the corner of her mouth she said, "Okay, remember to sell it." 

Grover brightened when he saw them. "Hey! You made it. We were beginning to think you weren't coming." 

"Annabeth," said Piper in a tone that set off all of Percy's warning bells. "Sit next to me." 

Annabeth did as she was told, and Percy sat next to her. She pressed his leg up against his, and made sure their shoulders were brushing. Piper was studying them very carefully, and Leo was having trouble keeping his mouth shut. Percy tried really hard not to look at Calypso. 

"I'm Annabeth," she said, and Percy realised that officially, she had never met Calypso.

"It's nice to meet you," Calypso said warmly. Piper and Grover were watching like they half-expected the world was going to end. Leo, predictably, was oblivious. 

"I've heard a lot about you," Annabeth said politely. 

"And yet we've hardly heard anything about you," Piper interjected. "Do you still have that terrifying owl painting in your room?" 

Percy frowned. "Piper!" 

But Annabeth was laughing. "Only if you still have that awful pink wallpaper." 

"It's yellow now," Leo said with a roll of his eyes. "Piper went through this annoying phase where she insisted on purging anything that was purple or pink." 

Annabeth smiled. "Oh, yeah?"

"She made me get rid of my pillow pet," Percy said. 

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You had a pink pillow pet?" 

"His name was Pinky." 

Annabeth laughed again, and this time he couldn't help but match her with a grin. He had forgotten how contagious she was, sometimes. Especially when she wasn't trying. 

"You know, I kind of miss Pinky," Grover was saying, "Did Estelle steal him?" 

"I think Percy's still hiding him in his closet," Calypso said. "He always gets weird when I go near it." 

Everyone was laughing, now. Percy looked up and accidentally caught sight of Luke again, but this time he wasn't interested in Percy. He was staring at Annabeth, and his expression was almost… not _miserable_. But not bitter either. Percy almost felt sorry for him. Because looking at Annabeth, right now, with her head tilted back in laughter, she fit. Thirty seconds in, and she fit.

"Percy?" Annabeth smile melted into a frown. "You look like you're thinking too hard."

 _Our plan is working_ , Percy thought. But he didn't say it. 

"I never think too hard," he said instead. "I never think at all." 

"Oh, yeah? What do you do, then?"

Percy knew what Annabeth was thinking even without her suggestive tone. Her eyes screamed _now!_ , and he didn't even think twice. He leaned in and kissed her, not like he had in the hallway, but quick and sweet. 

"Great," Piper groaned, and Percy tore his gaze away from Annabeth. "I'm the only one at this table who's not in a relationship, and now I have to suffer through PDA."

" _You_ got us all together," protested Grover. 

"I am my own worst enemy," Piper agreed. But Percy wasn't listening anymore, because Annabeth was grinning at him, and again, he knew they were thinking the exact same thing. 

_Piper bought it._

 

. 

. 

. 

 

After that, fake-dating came kind of easier. Kissing Annabeth wasn't exactly a chore, and holding hands with her had kind of started to feel natural. She fit in well with his friends, too, Piper and Grover especially, and for the most part… Percy's life didn't really change. It just had a lot more Annabeth in it. 

Friday rolled around quickly; Annabeth's class was running late so he and Piper kicked around by his car for a bit, waiting for her. 

"She's tutoring you?" Piper was saying. "Wow, you guys really are nauseating."

Percy was about to say something sarcastic back, when he spotted a familiar blonde head making their way towards him. Actually, two familiar blonde heads. For half a second, Percy thought it might be Luke. But this guy had no scar, glasses, and an easy-going smile. Jason Grace. 

"Hi Percy," Annabeth said, leaning up to give him an obligatory kiss. "Sorry I was late. Coach called a last-minute track meeting." 

"Oh, yeah? What about?" 

"We have an event next week," Annabeth said, leaning into Percy. He put his arms around her instinctively. 

"Coach is really gunning for Annabeth this round," Jason put in. Annabeth smiled at him. 

"So is Jason, he's just too modest to say it." 

"So you guys have an event next week?" Piper said. 

"Yeah," Jason said. He shifted his bag on his back and coughed a little. "You know, you should come. You and Percy." 

Annabeth seemed to glance between Jason and Piper. "You should definitely come, Piper," she said. "Percy is."

Piper blinked. "You are?" 

He shrugged. There was a part of him that was trying not to laugh. "I kind of promised." 

"I have it in writing and everything," Annabeth added. She tugged on his arm, and Percy allowed himself to be pulled to the car. "Come on Seaweed Brain, we have studying to do. Bye, guys!" 

"But I'm giving Piper a ride," Percy argued, even as he allowed her to push her into the driver's seat. 

Annabeth gave a big wave to Jason and Piper, who were beginning to walk off in the opposite direction together. She leaned on her arms in the window and grinned at Percy. She stood in just the right way so that the sun glinted off her hair and seemed to make her glow like gold. 

"Don't worry about Piper," she said. "She'll get home just fine." 

Percy frowned. "What?" 

Annabeth climbed into the passenger seat. "Let's go, Percy." 

"Annabeth, her dad will kill me if she doesn't get home safe—" 

Annabeth let out a short laugh that briefly made Percy feel very good about himself. 

"You're so oblivious." 

 _Briefly_. 

" _Oblivious_? At least I'm not cryptic." 

Annabeth was still laughing. "Percy!" 

"Okay, okay, I'm driving." Percy glanced over at her, and she was smiling out the window, and he would never tell anyone, but it was kind of a nice sight. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy had forgotten one thing about Fridays: Calypso babysat Estelle on Fridays. 

When he and Annabeth got in, still arguing about their favourite characters on Brooklyn 99 (hers was Jake, his was Amy), Calypso rounded the corner, still carrying Estelle's schoolbag, and all three of them stopped like they'd been caught in the deer lights. 

"Oh, hi, Annabeth," Calypso said. Percy tried not to feel ignored. 

"Hi, Calypso," Annabeth said lightly. There was another awkward pause, and then Annabeth touched Percy softly on the shoulder. "Um, I'm gonna go set up our books." 

Calypso started shoving things in Estelle's bag as soon as Annabeth disappeared up the stairs. 

Percy grabbed Estelle's grey beanie from the coat rack, and handed it out. Calypso took it with a small smile, and Percy knew it was an invitation to sit himself on the bench and hang around for a bit. 

"We haven't talked in a while," he said slowly. 

"Yeah, I know," Calypso said warmly. "It's okay, I get it. Busy week, with you and Annabeth."

"Right." Percy knew he was skirting into dangerous territory, but he couldn't help it. "So? What do you think of her? You know, Annabeth." 

Calypso wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was folding up Estelle's bright pink swimsuit. "She's really nice." 

Percy studied her carefully, but there was nothing on her face that betrayed anything. He'd always found it impossible to read her. 

"That's all?" 

"Well, I don't really know her that well," Calypso said. "But from what I've seen…" 

"Right." 

Calypso put the bag down with a small thump. It was still gentle, like everything else she did, but it caught his attention. She was looking at him now. 

"Why do you care?" she asked. 

Percy blinked. "What?" 

"Why do you care what I think of Annabeth?"

Leo's face drifted in front of Percy's face. Suddenly he was remembering Annabeth's pact, kissing in the pool, Calypso standing at the other end with a letter in her hand. 

"Because you're my friend," Percy said, and as he did, he realised it was true. All this time they'd spent together, Calypso had always been the girl he liked, or Leo's girlfriend. But they were friends. He was starting to realise that now. "I care what you think." 

A thousand indecipherable expressions flickered across her face. "Do you really want to know what I think?" she asked softly. He nodded, and she sighed. "I don't think she's good for you."

Percy straightened. "What?" 

"Look, I like Annabeth. I think she's really nice."

"But?" Percy pressed. He didn't like the edge he heard in his voice, but he couldn't stop it coming out. 

"Didn't she just break up with Luke? They were together for a really long time, Percy. I think she really cared about him. That doesn't just go away in a week." God, why was everyone giving Percy the Annabeth-and-Luke spiel? Did they think he didn't know? Did they think… but Annabeth's voice floated into his head. A memory, from a few days ago. _I'm still in love with Luke._

"It's not what you think," Percy said. 

Calypso's gaze was sympathetic, but unwavering. "I'm not saying it's her fault, or yours, or anyone's. Right now everything's light and easy and you can't even see it—but Percy, I _can_. I don't want you to get hurt, and…" Calypso took a tiny breath. "I don't think you should date her." 

Percy suddenly felt irrationally angry, for no reason whatsoever. He should have been happy. Calypso was worried about him, and she clearly bought their relationship, and in some ways, she was right about Luke. But something didn't sit right in his stomach. He felt nauseous, like he'd eaten something bad for lunch, and he wanted to say something really mean, like _you're the reason I'm doing this in the first place_. 

He swallowed his words. "Okay," he said. 

Calypso was still watching him. "Don't be mad," she said quietly. 

"I'm not mad," Percy said. His eyes searched the room for anything other than Calypso's eyes, and he found the clock. "Stella's gonna be late for swim practice. I'll go get her." 

He left Calypso downstairs, getting the last of Estelle's stuff, trying to stop his thoughts from going into overdrive. Stella wasn't in her room, but he could hear chattering down the hall. Percy pushed open the door and found Annabeth and Estelle lying on his bed. Annabeth was drawing something, and Estelle was braiding her hair. 

"You have really nice hair," Estelle was saying. Then she saw Percy and pulled a face at him. "Your boyfriend's here." 

Annabeth glanced up, and she looked extremely guilty. "Hi, Percy," she said, sitting up. Her braids fell out, to Estelle's protest. 

"We're not dating, Stella," Percy told his sister, which felt insanely weird to say. "Callie's waiting downstairs to take you to swimming." 

Estelle slid off the bed. "Bye, Annabeth." 

Annabeth smiled at her. "Bye Stella."

She paused long enough for Percy to ruffle her hair, and then Percy and Annabeth both listened as she ran down the stairs and starting talking incessantly to Calypso. 

"Sorry," Annabeth said, "I know you didn't want me talking to her." 

"You can talk to her," Percy said, throwing himself on the floor and leaning his head back on the bed. "Anyway, she likes you. Once she likes you, you're never escaping."

Annabeth laid down on the bed so that she could lean her head down and look at Percy. She was smiling. 

"It's not like we're going to have a messy breakup, Seaweed Brain," she said. "I'm not gonna bail on her— _or_ you. We're friends now." 

Percy liked that it wasn't a question - that she just said it. They were friends now. Or, again, technically. There were no doubts about it. 

"So," Annabeth said, "how'd it go with Calypso?" Percy shrugged, and Annabeth frowned sympathetically at him. 

"Bad, huh?" 

"The plan's working, at least," he said. He thought about Calypso's gentle expression… what she'd said about Annabeth… _I think she really cared about him. That doesn't just go away in a week._ "What about Luke?" 

Annabeth seemed surprised. She stopped tapping her pencil. "Luke?" 

"Yeah, I mean, have you talked to him? Is he buying it?" 

"Um.." Her expression was strangely hesitant. "Yeah. I've talked to him." 

Percy sat up. "When?" 

"Yesterday," Annabeth said. "He came over after school." Her eyes narrowed. "Is that a problem?" 

 _Yes_ , Percy thought, even as he said, "No. But why didn't you tell me?" 

"It just didn't seem important."

"Okay, but…" Percy tried to wrap his head around it. Luke going over to Annabeth's, them talking about… what? Him? Getting back together? "I mean, I tell you everything about Calypso." 

"I guess," said Annabeth. She was studying him carefully. "But we weren't talking about our relationship or anything. We were just talking about…" She hesitated. "I would have told you if it was important." 

"I know," said Percy, and he did. He looked up at her. "So do you think it's working? The plan?" 

Annabeth gave him a strange look, and Percy thought he knew why. He didn't know why it was important that he found out the answer, he just knew it _was_. 

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "When he came over yesterday he was just like the Luke I've always been in love with, and I guess I'd forgotten what he can be like, when he tries. But the other day, after we kissed… I don't know, it was weird. He told me to watch out for you." 

Percy frowned. "Why?" _And why didn't you tell me this?_ he added silently. "Do you think he's jealous?" 

Annabeth considered it for a moment. "Maybe," she said. "I'm not sure yet. I think we have to keep this plan going longer." She gave him a look, and her eyes were a deep, slate grey this time. "Are you okay with that?" 

Percy thought about it, about her and Luke and Piper and Calypso, about his family and the lying and the trouble it could cause, and the people who had warned him about jumping into a relationship (albeit a fake one) with Annabeth Chase. He had to admit, it was a lot of trouble. 

Then Percy looked at her again. She gave him a tiny little smile, and Percy stopped thinking at all. 

"Only," he said gravely, "if you do my homework for me." 

She hit him with her maths book. "I'm not doing your homework for you." 

"What's the point of dating a smart girl if you won't help me cheat?" 

Annabeth glowered at him, pointing a finger. "I," she said airily, "am much more than a smart girl, Jackson." 

"Oh, yeah?" He jumped up onto the bed next to her, challenging. "And what do you have to prove it?" 

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Eight years of judo lessons." And she shoved him off the bed. 

Percy laid on the floor, and Annabeth began to read The Merchant of Venice to him, and within moments, Percy had forgotten all about Luke, and Calypso, and the weird web of lies he was about to wade deeper into. Actually, he wasn't thinking about any of that at all. In that moment, on the floor of his bedroom, trying (and failing) to pretend like he actually cared about Shakespeare, Percy was only thinking about one girl.

(And it wasn't Calypso.)


	4. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was ridiculously fun to write.
> 
> also, how do you guys feel about an annabeth chapter? i love percy, but some scenes just don't work with him there, as the (sometimes extremely biased) narrator.

"My track meet's this Saturday at ten," Annabeth said, throwing herself into the car. "Mark it down in your calendar." 

Percy turned to look at her. "Hi Annabeth, yes, I _am_ doing great, thank you so much for asking." 

Annabeth scowled at him. In the back, Estelle said, "Aw, you guys are so cute." 

"We're not dating," Percy and Annabeth said in unison. Estelle muttered something under her breath, but neither of them were really listening to her.

"Mark it down," Annabeth said again, "I don't want you to forget." With a furtive look back at Estelle, she added in a lower voice, "It's part of the contract, remember?" 

"I remember," Percy said. "But _calendars_ weren't part of the contract. And I don't have one." 

"How do you remember all your things?" Annabeth frowned. 

"My mom, mostly…" 

"Percy!" 

"What? She _likes_ knowing my schedule, it lets her get more involved in my life…" 

This argument continued in a similar fashion all the way to Estelle's school, and when they dropped her off, she made a huge point of sighing and rolling her eyes like _she_ was being inconvenienced by them having the decency to drive her to school instead of making her take the bus. 

"Will you guys just resolve your UST already?" she demanded. Then, she reluctantly gave Percy a goodbye wave and stomped off (in her glittery blue converse) to join her friends. 

Annabeth looked a little alarmed. "Where'd she learn about UST?" 

Percy shrugged. "My mom's a writer." 

"Hmm," said Annabeth. Percy prepared to start the car again, but she stopped him. "Hey, wait. Pass me your phone." 

He passed it over, slightly warily, and leaned on her shoulder to take a look. He groaned. 

"Oh, no, Annabeth, I don't need a virtual calendar," he whined. 

"No, but your amazing, beautiful friend Annabeth wants you to have one, and she thinks your life would be so much easier if you just agreed," said Annabeth. She played around with it for a bit longer, and finally surrendered it back to him after his constant poking got too annoying. 

"There's more in here than just your track meet," Percy said accusingly. He scrolled down. "What's One Month?" 

"Our one month anniversary," Annabeth said like it was obvious. "People will expect us to celebrate it."

"People are so weird," Percy said, still scrolling. Annabeth had keyed in a few more important dates for him; swim practice on Wednesdays, tutoring on Fridays, her birthday. "Hey, this is actually kind of useful…" 

"Start driving and pass it over," Annabeth said, and her tone was exasperated, but he could just _tell_ she was about to get all smug about it. Still, he did as she ordered, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Hey," Annabeth said after a moment, her voice weirdly quiet. "Um, Calypso's calling you."

Percy's fingers tightened on the steering wheel. "Uh, you can just let it ring," he said, a bit awkwardly. 

He could feel Annabeth's eyes boring into him. 

"Everything okay between you guys?"

"It's fine," Percy said. Actually, he'd been avoiding Calypso ever since they'd talked about Annabeth, which was kind of hard to do considering she lived next door and looked after Estelle. Incidentally, he'd been avoiding the subject of Calypso with Annabeth, too. Maybe he should have told her (this was the sort of thing you were supposed to tell a fake-girlfriend, right?), but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it. And anyway, she never talked about Luke… 

"Okay," said Annabeth. She fell silent, and Percy wondered if she'd guessed anyway, but they left it at that. Ignoring it seemed like the safest option, these days. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy woke up early (way too early) on Saturday for Annabeth's track meet. Last night she must have programmed an alarm into his phone while he went to the bathroom (traitor), and when he trudged his way down to the kitchen Estelle was staring at him with wide eyes. 

"You're up before nine." 

Percy gave her a look from the fridge. "Eat your cereal." 

"You're _never_ up before nine." 

"Annabeth has a track thing today," he told her. 

"Oh." Estelle looked down at her bowl, where she was pushing her cereal around with a spoon. "When will you be back?" 

"I don't know, late, I guess. We'll probably go out for food or something." Percy paused to study his little sister. "Why?" 

"Nothing, it's just…" Estelle hesitated. "You're always with Annabeth, now. You never hang out with other people anymore." 

Percy raised his eyebrows at her. He tried to suppress his smile, but that wasn't really working very well. 

"Other people?" 

"Yeah," Estelle said emphatically. "You know. Like… Like… Calypso!" (She seems pretty proud of herself for coming up with that one.) 

"You're sad because I'm not hanging out with _Calypso_ anymore." 

"Yep," she said. "I think… _Calypso_ might miss you. Even if you are the single most annoying person in the world sometimes."

Perxy leaned on the counter and stared at Estelle. Then, he reached over and poked her in the forehead. 

"Hey, Stella?" 

"Yes, Percy?" Estelle said innocently. 

"Wanna come hang out with Annabeth and I after track?" 

Estelle stared back. "I'll have to think about it," she said haughtily. 

Percy laughed. He guessed he hadn't been fair to Estelle lately - he'd just been so wrapped up in this whole Annabeth-and-Calypso thing, learning how to be Calypso's friend (which was surprisingly hard) and learning how to be Annabeth's fake boyfriend (which was… surprisingly easy). He hadn't made a lot of time for his little sister, and not only was that a sucky move by him, but it made him kind of sad, too, because he'd always promised he'd be a big brother before anything else. 

"Hey," he said, "let's get ice cream from that fancy place you like, too. Delphi's." 

Estelle narrowed her eyes at him. "Percy, are you trying to bribe me back into loving you?"

"Of course." 

She broke out into a grin. "I want a waffle cone." 

"And a double scoop," he promised. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy got there late, but at this point, he figured Annabeth would hardly be surprised. He made his way over to the stands, where Annabeth had said she'd meet him, but amongst the running shoes and AHS t-shirts, he spotted a familiar head of choppy brown hair. 

"Piper?" he said, and she turned with a smile. "What are you doing here?" 

"Same as you," Piper pointed out. 

"To watch? I didn't think you and Annabeth were that close…" 

"Well, we're not as close as _you_ and Annabeth," Piper said slyly. "At least, not yet." 

"Hey, Piper! You made it!" Jason Grace was jogging over, making Percy feel stupidly inadequate in his jeans and hoodie. 

Still, Percy grinned at Piper. 

"Okay, now I see why you came."

Piper quickly traded her scowl for a smile as Jason approached. Percy made up some vague, obvious excuse (which received a deathly glare from Piper), and left to find Annabeth. 

He heard her before he saw her - mainly because she was arguing. 

"You don't even know him!" Annabeth was saying furiously. "He's really sweet, you should see the way he looks after his little sister—" 

Only after Percy rounded the corner did he realise she was talking about him. And even though the figure had his back to Percy, he could have recognised him anywhere. Luke. 

"He's a dropout, Annabeth. He has dyslexia, did you know that? He's only going to hold you back," Luke said. "And you should see his friends…" 

"I have dyslexia too, in case you forgot," Annabeth said, and her voice was dangerously low. "And those _friends_ you're talking about used to be our friends, too. Before you gave up on them." 

"Annabeth, I don't want to talk about this." 

"Well, I do!" Annabeth sounded close to tears. She lifted her jaw up and in that moment, her eyes caught Percy's, and she paled a little. "Percy! Hi. You're early." 

Luke had turned, and now was studying him with a strange expression on his face. Percy tried to push back all the weird feelings swirling around in his gut. 

"I'm not early," he said, with a glance at Luke. "You're late." 

Annabeth looked at her watch. "Crap, you're right." She hesitated. "Luke…" But then she seemed to think better of it. She came over and slid her hand into Percy's, and he couldn't help but notice that her fingers were trembling. 

"Come on," she said. "Let's find you a good seat." 

They left Luke standing back there. Neither of them looked back, and Percy waited until they were out of earshot to talk again. 

"Hey, you okay? That looked pretty intense…" 

"It's fine," Annabeth said. "How… How much did you hear?" 

"Barely anything." Except, apparently, that he was a dropout. 

She seemed, at least, comforted by that. "Okay, well, you can sit with Piper, I saw her earlier—"

Percy stopped. "Hey, hang on." Her hand slid from his, and he went to touch her shoulder but backed out last minute. "What was that all about?" 

"Nothing," Annabeth said. "Just… Luke stuff. You know." 

"Right." Only he didn't know, because Annabeth hadn't told him. She _never_ told him about Luke, and back then she'd been about to cry, he'd heard it—and the idea that anyone could, or would want to, make Annabeth Chase cry was a tragedy that Percy didn't care for. And he didn't want to hear it again. 

"Annabeth…" 

"Percy, I'm gonna be late for track," Annabeth interrupted. She gave him a kiss on the cheek (for Luke's benefit?) and then took off, her ponytail swinging, sharp face set in deep concentration. 

Percy climbed up the steps to join Piper, who frowned at him. 

"You look mad. Is everything okay?" 

"Oh, everything's just great," Percy mumbled. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

For all their troubles, it didn't stop Annabeth from racing well. Jason did great too, and annoyingly, so did Luke. Piper had brought snacks in her bag, and with her sarcastic commentary and her endless supply of red vines, Percy finally wound down enough to smile at Annabeth when she joined him afterwards, all sweaty from her event. 

"Hey," she said, and leant in for a sticky, red vine kiss. She looked kind of cute today, which was a weird thought, seeing as her curls were still plastered to her forehead from sweat. 

"You did so well, Annabeth," Piper said brightly. 

"Yeah, you did great, Wise Girl," Percy said. She smiled at him and then slid onto his lap, arm thrown around his neck. Percy surprised himself when his heart started beating a little faster. 

"Thanks, guys," she said with a smile. 

Jason came by afterwards, and they watched him and Piper unabashedly flirt for a while. Annabeth leaned in and hid her laugh in his neck everytime Jason said something embarrassing (which was often), but Percy didn't mind. Weirdly, it was even kind of nice. 

Of course, Luke had to ruin it. 

He came up with his perfect hair and his athlete's body, and he actually looked genuine when he smiled at Annabeth and said, "You did good out there today." 

Percy felt Annabeth tense, but she must have forgiven him, because she smiled back and said, "Thanks, Luke." 

Suddenly, he didn't really feel like having Annabeth on his lap anymore, not when he was apparently going to third wheel… whatever was going on here. Annabeth's plan working, he guessed. 

Luke's gaze flickered down to where Annabeth had grabbed Percy's hand, and for a second, he even looked hurt. 

"Anyway," he said. "I just wanted to know if you were coming on the trip. Permission forms need to be in soon, and we haven't gotten yours."

"Oh, um, I haven't decided yet," Annabeth said lightly. "But thanks." 

"Trip?" Percy asked. "What trip?" 

Luke's blinding smile turned to Percy. "Annabeth didn't tell you about the beach trip?" 

"Luke," Annabeth said warningly. 

"Every couple goes on the beach trip," Luke said innocently. "It's a rite of passage. Annabeth must have mentioned it to you…" 

" _Luke_ ," Annabeth said sharply. "Back off, okay? I'll let you know about the trip later. I'll see you around." 

Luke got the hint. He left. Percy loosened his grip on Annabeth's waist. 

"Beach trip, huh?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Annabeth said instantly, eyes searching his. "It's a while away. I didn't think…" She didn't finish, because Piper and Jason were right there, but Percy knew what she meant to say. She didn't think they'd still be together by then. She thought she'd be back with Luke.

"It's okay." 

"Yeah?" Annabeth didn't seem convinced. She searched his face for a beat longer, and Percy wondered what she was looking for. 

"Okay," she said finally. "I'm gonna change. I'll meet you by the car." 

"Me too," Jason said. They took off, and Piper and Percy watched as their figures got further and further away. 

"This beach trip. Is it a real thing? " Percy asked after a minute. 

Piper glanced at him sideways. "Yeah. You really didn't know about it? Supposedly, it's where couples… you know. Take the next step." 

"The next step?" 

Piper huffed at him. "You're so obtuse. You know, the _next step_ ," she coaxed. At his blank look, she rolled her eyes. "Sex, Percy!"

Percy held his hands up. "Okay, okay, I get it!" His face got a little hot. No wonder Annabeth hadn't mentioned this to him before. "How do you even know about this, anyway?" 

"My cousin Silena went with her boyfriend last year," Piper said. 

"Right," said Percy, trying not to think too hard about that. 

"So are you gonna go?" Piper said after a moment. 

"I don't know…" 

"Is it cause Luke's going?" Piper asked knowingly. 

"That's not the reason," Percy said, a bit too irritably. "I just don't know if Annabeth wants to go. With me." 

"Of course she wants to go with you!" Piper looked vaguely alarmed at even the thought of him thinking otherwise. 

"She didn't tell me for a reason," he countered.

"Probably because it's just a big deal. You know. The whole sex thing." (Percy made a face.) "You guys have only just started dating, she was probably just freaked about scaring you off." Piper gave him a reassuring smile. "You have nothing to worry about with Luke." 

 _Except for the fact that she's still in love with him,_ Percy thought. But he didn't say it. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

On any other day, Percy would have been thrilled to have lunch with Annabeth, Piper and Jason, two out of three people who he had never dreamed he'd be friends with again. But he couldn't stop thinking about Luke. _He's only going to hold you back_. And Annabeth's face when he'd said it… 

"You know, I always knew you and Percy were going to get together," Piper was boasting. "Even when we were twelve, he was so obsessed with you." 

Annabeth was laughing. "He wasn't _obsessed_ with me." 

"I'm sorry, are we still talking about the same person?" Piper said. "Jason, back me up here." 

"It was kind of cute," Jason agreed. "Hey, Percy, remember when Annabeth broke her leg and you biked all the way across town to get those candies that she liked?" 

There was a silence.

"Percy?" Annabeth said. He blinked to present and stared at her. 

"What did I miss?" 

"Just our total embarrassment of you," Piper said. "No biggie." 

"Very funny, guys."

Annabeth was still looking at him funny. She bit her lip, but then he stole a fry from her plate, Jason asked her a question that she was compelled to answer, and Percy got away with it. 

 

. 

. 

. 

 

Percy and Annabeth split off from Piper and Jason in the carpark. She was still drinking lemonade out of a plastic cup and a straw when they drove back to Percy's place, and she was still laughing at a joke that Piper had made earlier. 

"Hey," Percy said impulsively as he pulled up. She looked at him, and couldn't help but match her smile. "So you had fun today, huh?" 

"I forgot how cool Piper is," Annabeth said. "And her and Jason are pretty cute, don't you think? At least if nothing else comes out of our fake relationship, we helped get them together." 

"Right." Percy's smile faded and he looked out the window. On habit, his eyes landed on Calypso's pretty blue house. 

"Are you guys still not talking?" Annabeth asked. 

"I don't wanna talk about it," Percy said. 

"Okay," she said, sounding a little taken aback. "That's fine, we don't have to."

Luke's words were rolling around in his head still, and Percy could feel something coming. He tried to make himself stop, but it was like trying to prevent the tide from coming in—the words just spilled out anyway. 

"I mean, it's not like you ever tell me about Luke." 

Annabeth stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I mean…" _Stop_ , Percy's subconscious warned. _Stop right now_ . "I have no idea what's going on with you and Luke, you _never_ say anything. You say we're doing this to make him jealous, but we never hang out around him—he goes to your house all the time, you're planning beach trips with the guy—" 

Annabeth glared at him. "I don't want to talk about this." She got out of the car and slammed the door. Percy jumped out after her. 

"I tell you everything about Calypso." 

She whirled on him. "That's your choice! I never asked you to do that."

"Well, I thought since we're dating, we're supposed to share things with each other too," Percy said (his voice was getting loud now). 

"Fake-dating," Annabeth corrected in a low voice. "We're _fake_ -dating, Percy. And anyway, it's different with Luke and I." 

"How?" he demanded.

"You were never with Calypso. I was in _love_ with Luke." 

Percy made an angry little noise at the back of his throat. "Love, huh?" 

That seemed to make something in both of them snap. Annabeth took three big steps up to him so they were nose-to-nose; her eyes were stormy, and in that moment, infuriating. 

"You know, Percy," Annabeth said hotly, "you're not actually my boyfriend. You don't get to be jealous." 

She could have slapped him, and gotten the same effect. He felt his face heat up. 

"I know that!"

A scoff, "Oh, really?" 

"Yes, really! I don't care if you date other guys, so long as it's not Luke!"

She crossed her arms. "And why are you so against my dating Luke?" 

"Because he's bad for you!" 

Annabeth looked positively thunderous now. "No, he's not," she said, but it was weak, and they both knew it. 

"He hurts you, Annabeth. And it hurts me to see you like that," Percy said, softening by a fraction. "I'm not just going to stand around watching you get your heart broken." 

"Well, it's my heart to break! Not yours." 

"Annabeth…" Percy tried. "Can't you see where I'm coming from? Even a little bit?" 

She closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said. She sounded tired. "Yeah, I can." Then, she opened them again. "But I can't give up on him."

Percy felt frustration take over like a tidal wave. "You're impossible." 

"And you're naive!" Annabeth retorted. "Do you really think this is gonna help you get over Calypso? You're still so lovesick over her, it's so obvious." 

"I'm not _lovesick_ over her—" 

"What, Calypso stops talking to you and suddenly you're always distracted at lunch, you're moody all the time, you're picking fights with me over Luke—"

Percy wanted to say _that's not what this is about!_ but he couldn't figure out how to get the words right without tripping over his tongue, so he seized on his flare of anger again.

"And now we're talking about _Luke_ again," he said, and her whole face turned stormy to match her eyes. 

"What is your problem, Percy?" 

"Why didn't you tell me about the beach trip?" he blurted out. "Is it because you wanted to go with Luke?" 

"So what if I did?" she snapped.

"Because," he said, and he was thinking about Piper's stupid 'next step' thing, and Luke, and Annabeth almost crying at the track event. "Because it just does, okay?" 

Annabeth's expression clouded over. Her mouth set in a thin line.

"You know, you always accuse me of never telling you anything about Luke, but you never tell me what you're feeling either. I'm tired of guessing, and being wrong about it," she said firmly. 

He (stubbornly) didn't say anything. After a moment, Annabeth threw up her hands. 

"I knew this whole plan was a bad idea," she said, "I'm going. Don't follow me." 

She took off down the street, arms still crossed angrily. 

"At least let me drive you!" he shouted after her, and his voice echoed down the street. 

"I just want to be alone," she called back, her voice faint from distance. Percy watched her until her figure disappeared around the corner, and as soon as she did, he felt guilty, and sick all over, like he'd caught the flu or something. 

Percy headed back for the house, intent on throwing something or playing angry video games, anything, when he caught a flash of something at the door. 

He opened it. Sitting two metres away, innocently on the couch, was Estelle. He crossed his arms. 

"Estelle?" 

"We were meant to go for ice cream," Estelle said guiltily. 

Crap. He'd forgotten. _Again_. "How much did you see?" 

"Not a lot," she said. She hugged her bag to her chest and eyed him worriedly. 

Percy sighed and opened the door wider. He gave her a little smile. "Come on." 

She brightened. "Really?" 

"I promised, didn't I?" 

She jumped up and headed straight for the car. Percy helped throw her stuff in the back and waited for her to put her seatbelt on, but before he could turn the key in the ignition, Estelle stopped him. 

"Hey, Percy," she said quietly. "Are you and Annabeth breaking up?" 

"We were never together, Estelle," he reminded her. 

She glanced down and fiddled with her skirt. "Didn't seem like that to me…" 

Percy turned and fixed her with a look. "Stella, why are you so worried? I thought you wanted me to date Callie." 

"I do!" Estelle said. "But…" 

He raised his eyebrows at her. "But…?"

"Annabeth made you really happy," she admitted. "I like it when you're happy, big brother." 

He poked her in the side, and she squirmed. "I like it when you're happy too, kiddo." 

"Percy," she whined, "I'm being serious. I think Annabeth was your true love! You know, like the princess and the frog. But you're definitely the frog." 

Percy couldn't help but snort. "Thanks, Estelle." 

"I'm just saying," she said haughtily. "Even if _I_ don't approve… Annabeth really likes you, and if you like her too, you should just say sorry. Luke might be a prince, but _you're_ the frog."

"How do you know about Luke?" 

"Piper told me." 

Percy resisted the urge to hit his head on the steering wheel. "I'm _so_ going to kill her." Estelle made a noncommittal noise, and he glanced at her. "You really think she'll forgive me if I say sorry?" 

"Yep," Estelle said. "Give her puppy dog eyes. No one can resist puppy dog eyes." 

Percy figured as far as advice went, that was pretty sound. He gave her a little grin. 

"You know, you're actually kind of smart."

Estelle gave him a look that said  _duh._ "You're gonna stop at Annabeth's house after this," she decided. 

Percy raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I am, am I?"

"Yep," Estelle said. "But first - I believe I was promised an ice cream."

 

.

.

.

 

Percy couldn't quite believe that he was taking love advice from his baby sister, who (as far as he was aware) only experience with romance was from Disney cartoons. Still, regardless of that, he was here, knocking on the Chases' front door anyway. Either he was an idiot, or his sister really was a genius. 

Thankfully, Annabeth opened the door. She was in pyjamas, and he was a little gleeful to see that she had little printed owls on her shorts, and a Harvard top. Her hair was down for once, and when she saw it was him, she crossed her arms.

"Hey," he said hopefully. "I bring gifts."

Annabeth squinted at his hand. "Chocolate?"

"Seaweed chocolate," he corrected. Annabeth's lips twitched.

"You really are a Seaweed Brain," she said.

He shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

Annabeth didn't say anything for a second. Then, she held out her hand. Percy passed her the chocolate bar, and she opened it, still without saying anything. Percy realised he was going to have to do more than bring her chocolate.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have blown up at you about Luke."

"Yeah. You shouldn't have," Annabeth agreed, and his heart sunk. Then, she continued, "But I shouldn't have said that stuff about Calypso either. I don't know, I think I was just so in my head about this whole fake-dating thing that everything just kind of imploded, and I ended up directing it at you..."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, relieved. "Me too. This is all... really weird, right?"

"So weird," Annabeth said. She hesitated. "You're never gonna be okay with Luke, are you?"

Percy looked down at his shoes, and scuffed them a bit on her doorstep. "No," he relented finally. "I'm sorry. But I'm trying. And if you really love him... I guess I can learn to deal with it."

Annabeth was studying him again (she seemed to do that a lot). "So you still want to do this, then?

Percy realised that he hadn't even considered their breaking it off. ( _Fake_ breaking it off? This was all so confusing.) And... he didn't really want to, either. 

"Our plan will work," he promised. "Just give it a little bit more time."

"How much more time?" Annabeth asked. 

"How about... How about until the beach trip?"

She seemed surprised by that. "The beach trip?"

"If you wanna go."

She seemed to debate it for a minute. Then, she smiled at him. "Okay. Beach trip."

"Good." 

She held out her hand, and he shook it, and it felt bizarrely like the day they'd agreed to start this whole thing up. That felt like so long ago now, when in reality it had only been a few weeks. 

"So," said Annabeth after a moment. "You wanna come in? Maybe mock my owl print pants for a while?"

Percy grinned at her - he loved that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Nah, my sister's waiting in the car. Raincheck on the mocking?"

Annabeth leaned on the doorframe and smiled at him again, but it was different this time, a little warmer. A promise. 

"Raincheck," she said.

And before Percy could think about what he was doing, before he could realise that there was no one around that they had to pretend for, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. 

"See you around," he said.

When he got back to the car, Estelle had a smile so wide he thought they might have won the lottery.

"Are you _sure_ you aren't dat-"

"Nope," Percy said. 

"Okay," Estelle said, in a tone that said she didn't believe him in the slightest. 

Percy pulled out from Annabeth's road; in in the rearview mirror he could see Annabeth still standing there, watching them drive away. And he couldn't really tell from this distance - but he thought she might have been blushing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, let me know what you guys think! or you're always welcome to contact me on tumblr, @santiagone.


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